


A new beginning

by allthingsteenwolf20



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Anger, Domestic Violence, Drug Use, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Loneliness, Sad, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 23:30:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthingsteenwolf20/pseuds/allthingsteenwolf20
Summary: Y/N is an old friend of Clay's and Justin's old tutor/babysitter. She learns that Clay is in desperate need of her help to track down the broken boy who's fled from his abusive home knowing she can be the one to help reach him so they set off together but will they find Justin and will he accept their help?





	1. Chapter 1

It had been 2 days since Clay had texted his old best friend Y/N about everything that had been going on at Liberty High especially after Hannah's death. She had spoken to Clay on the phone and he seemed desperate for her help. At first she was hesitant but once he mentioned it was about the small broken boy named Justin Foley, she almost jumped out of her skin as her heart sank not bearing to hear something had happened to the sweet boy she had known several years ago. 

~ flashback ~ 

"Clay, it's almost midnight. What's this about?" Y/N said yawning slightly annoyed at the late phone call.   
"I know, I know. I'm sorry to have called you so late but it's an emergency. I need you to come back to town maybe for a few weeks. Urgh, Y/N everything's gone to shit and it's only getting worse." He sighed down the phone.  
"What do you mean? What's happened?" Y/N asked him.   
"It's Justin." He replied.  
"Justin Foley?" She asked him her heart beating twice as fast.   
"What about him, is he ok? What happened?" She asked panicking slightly.   
"Do you remember him?" Clay asked her.  
"Of course I do. How could I forget? I mean he was a troubled kid and his home life wasn't great but he was a real sweetheart. I was his tutor and sometimes his babysitter when he was younger. Is he ok?" Y/N asked.  
"That's the thing. He went off the radar a while ago and it's only recently that we've heard he's back in town."   
"What do you mean? He left?" She questioned sitting up in bed.   
"He ran away from home and no one's seen him. That is until a few days ago, people have said he's been living homeless downtown." He explained to her.   
"Oh god. Oh Justin. Yeah of course, I'll come help. Just give me a day or two to sort my apartment out down there and then I'm all in." She explained to him.   
"Thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow. Can you get to my place for 5?" He asked her.  
"Yeah of course. I'll leave first thing tomorrow and see you then. Take care and call me if you need anything." She told him.   
"Goodnight." They called and the line ended. Y/N laid in bed staring at the ceiling. 

~ flashback end ~ 

Y/N had arrived in time and headed straight to her apartment to sort a few things out such as clean up and stock the kitchen with groceries before making her way to Clay's house to speak with him, Tony and Sherri about their plan to go track down Justin tomorrow.

"Y/N, thank god you're here." Clay replied and hugged her.  
"It's good to see you too, squirt" She smiled and hugged him back.   
"This is Tony and Sherri." He introduced to her.   
"Hi." She smiled kindly and headed into the living room taking a seat. 

Clay ordered pizza and then joined the others in the living room to go over their plan to track Justin down tomorrow. It had apparently been confirmed that the young boy had been spotted downtown.   
"He's homeless," Clay stated.   
"Poor thing. I knew he didn't have a great home life but I didn't think it'd get to the point there he'd run away. Oh god." Y/N sighed, her heart breaking.   
"This is my fault. If I hadn't have left he'd atleast have had a safe haven to run away too. He's never going to forgive me." She sighed.   
"It's not your fault. His mom chose drugs and boyfriends before her own son. We need you to come with us to get him. You're the only person who can get through to him." Tony added.   
"I'm going to stop by the gas station to see if I can pick up things like a first aid kit, blanket, some food and maybe even a towel. God knows what condition, the poor thing is in." She told them.   
"About tomorrow. I can't come with you guys. I have classes." Sherri told them.   
"Me too guys. I can't miss anymore classes or my probation officer will be on my case." Tony told them.  
"It's fine, I'll go." Clay told them.  
"I'm coming with you." Y/N told him.   
"Alright. When we find him and know what to do with him, I'll text you guys". Clay told them as they nodded at his words.   
"We'll bring him back to my place. It's clean, fully stocked with groceries, I have a spare room and I can work from home and look after him. No doubt he's going to be in a real state." She told them.   
Clay nodded.   
"Alright just keep us updated and we can meet you later after school." Tony told her. They nodded. 

The pizza arrived promptly and the group dug in hungrily. They continued to go over the plan for tomorrow to rescue Justin.   
"Alright if everyone's up to date, I think we should call it a night." Clay told them.   
"Yeah, we'll see you guys tomorrow." Tony and Sherri replied and headed out the door.   
"What's the deal with you desperately needing to find Justin? I find it a little hard to believe that you suddenly care about him. I know you guys were at loggerheads a few years ago." Y/N questioned Clay.   
"I do care but we need Justin to testify on Hannah's case to bring down Bryce." Clay told her.   
"Aah, I see. That's why it's so important." She replied.   
"Oh and thanks for giving your spare room up for him. I was going to ask. It's just that I can't have him here or mom and dad would lose their shit." Clay told her.  
"I know, it's ok. Don't worry. Anyways, I'm going to get going and pick up a few last bits for tomorrow. I'll come by for 10am to pick you so we can find him the sooner the better. I can't imagine what the poor thing is going through." She sighed and stood up taking her car keys out from her pocket and heading to the door. 

"Thanks for doing this, Y/N. I know you're someone that can get through to Justin." He told her.   
"I hope so. I don't think he ever forgave me for moving away and leaving him though." She told him sadly recalling the moment she told him seeing his heart break when he was only 12 years old.   
"You've always been there for him. He's got to have forgiven you. Anyways, we'll see tomorrow. Goodnight Y/N." Clay told her hugging her goodbye as she exited the Jensen residence. 

As much as Clay didn't like Justin and they hadn't got along, he couldn't help but be a little worried for him.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Y/N had packed a few essentials in the morning such as a blanket, bucket, tissues, first aid kit, extra bandages, a large towel and some snacks. She had prepared a hearty dish of lasagne knowing he wouldn't have eaten in days. She had been shopping the day before and bought a new outfit for him, something plain and casual as he distinctly remembered how small and skinny Justin was and picked out some boxers, grey and navy sweats and a couple of plain soft cotton t shirts and some socks for him. 

She arrived outside the Jensen household and texted Clay she was waiting. She took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee in her travel mug and sighed. She didn't know what to expect if they found Justin or if he even wanted to be found.   
"Morning." Clay smiled as he climbed into the passenger seat.   
"Hey squirt, ready to do this?" She told him handing him her flask of coffee. He smiled appreciatively and took a sip passing it back to her.  
"Ok so let's start around his old neighbourhood and maybe ask around and see if anyone's seen him."  Clay told her.   
"Ok sounds like a plan. I can't imagine what he's going through. Last time I spoke to his mom, she was a serious junkie." Y/N explained.   
"She still is apparently but she's had a series of boyfriends" Clay told her.   
"Oh god." Y/N sighed. 

Y/N parked the car and got out looking around. It was a rough neighbourhood, no doubt about that. "I'll see if his mom is home and see if he's ever come back home." She told him.   
"I'll come with you." Clay told her. Y/N remembered Justin's apartment from years ago. The same cracked cream building with broken windows and a damaged black door. She approached it and knocked on the door waiting for an answer.

"Yeeeaah? What're yooouuu waaan'?" A middle aged woman slurred. She had dark circles under her eyes and her blonde hair was a mess.   
"Ms Foley? Do you remember me? I'm Y/N. I used to babysit your son, Justin and this is Clay, his friend at school." Y/N began.   
"Yeah so?" She spat back.   
"We were wondering if you'd seen Justin?" Clay asked.  
"No, why would I care? He ran away weeks ago." She spat at them slamming the door in their face. Y/N sighed and walked back to her car.   
"Well she wasn't very helpful." Y/N sighed resting her hands on the steering wheel and resting her head against it.   
"Justin, where are you honey?" She whispered under her breath. 

Clay's phone beeped and he took it out to check it seeing a text from Tony.   
"Spoke to some guys at school. They said they saw Justin downtown yesterday. Go now." Clay read out.   
"Alright, downtown here we come." Y/N sighed signalling and pulling out onto the main road making their way downtown. 

They had been driving through the streets for almost an hour and they had no luck.   
"Where could he be? I'm starting to get worried." Y/N told him.   
"Y/N wait! Over there!" Clay exclaimed and he pointed to a young ratty looking boy sat on cardboard near a dumpster outside of a coffee shop.   
"Oh my god, that's him!" Y/N exclaimed as she pulled up into a free parkin space.   
"Listen to me. He's going to be seriously out of it. Who knows what he's seen and what he's been through so let me do the talking. Hopefully he'll recognise us." She told him taking a deep breath and getting out of her car with Clay following her. 

She carefully approached the young boy and the closer she got to him the more her heart broke. He had lost a severe amount of weight, his clothes were dirty and torn, he had several cuts and bruises on his face and he appeared to be in a daze.  
"Justin?" She called to him gently.   
"Justin?" She called again. This time he looked up with wide eyes. He lunged for his backpack and got up making a run around the corner and into the alley.   
"Hey! JUSTIN! Wait!" Clay called and ran after him with Y/N behind him.   
"Don't lose him!" Y/N shouted.   
"Fuck off Jensen!" Justin shouted back in anger as he continued running.

They chased him to a dead end.   
"Justin, please stop!" Y/N called out of breath.  
"Leave me alone!" Justin yelled back with tears in his eyes.   
"Sweetheart, please..." Y/N began.   
"No! You left me! You left me! Just go away!" Justin shouted.   
"Justin, please. I can explain everything. Just come with us, honey." Y/N reasoned with him.   
"No! I'm not going anywhere!" Justin continued to shout.   
"Justin, stop. Please or you'll hurt yourself. Please honey, just calm down. We can talk. I'll explain everything. Don't you know how much I've missed you?" Y/N gently approached him.   
"I missed you so much. I thought of you everyday and how much it broke my heart. I can't even begin to understand what you've been through, honey but if you come with me I'll explain everything. I promise." She told him getting closer.  
"You missed me?" He asked tears still running down his red cheeks.  
"But you left me." Justin cried his voice breaking as more tears flowed down his red bruised cheeks.   
"I know honey. I know and I'm so so sorry. It was the worst mistake I ever made but I promise you, I won't leave you ever again." She told him holding her arms out to him.   
"Please, we just wanna to help you Justin." Clay explained.   
"Come with us, sweetheart. Let me help you." She cooed. Justin slowly approached her. Seeing the kind loving expression on her face. He reached out and took her hand.   
"That's it, good job sweetheart. It's ok. You're safe now." She told him holding him close and guiding him back to her car with Clay as he grabbed Justin's duffle bag and followed behind. 

Y/N sat Justin in the passenger seat and wrapped a blanket around him as Clay sat in the back with Justin's duffle bag beside him.  
"Everything's going to be, honey." She reassured him wiping his tears before climbing into the driver's seat and making her way back home to her apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

The drive to her house was almost 30 minutes away. Justin sat in silence staring out of the window. Occasional sobs could be heard from him. Clay sat in the back texting Tony that Justin had been found but they needed a few hours to themselves to get him cleaned up and settled. 

Y/N pulled up into the drive and turned off the engine. She rummaged in her purse to take out her house key and passed it to Clay to go and open as she gently put her hand on Justin's shoulder to bring him out of his daze.   
"We're here, sweetheart. Come on, let's get you inside and out of this heat." She told him getting out first to go over and help him. She opened the passenger door and carefully helped him out supporting his weight. She could feel how malnutrited he was as his ribs were almost poking out. 

She guided him inside to the living room and sat him down on the couch as he headed into the kitchen. Clay placed Justin's duffle bag next to him which thr boy scrambled and held it close to him. Y/N returned and handed Justin a glass of cold water.   
"Drink this sweetheart, you'll feel alot better." She told him handing him thr glass and watched as Justin gulped down the water within seconds. She instructed Clay to go refill it.   
"Why did you bring me here?" Justin asked in almost a whisper.  
"Because Clay told me you needed help and I knew that I was the one person you'd listen to. Besides, I feel awful. Honey, I'm so sorry. I had no ideas things had gotten worse for you. If you'd told me sooner, of course I'd have stayed. You pushed me away and didn't want to talk. What else was I suppose to do?" Y/N asked him.   
"Besides, we need you." Clay told him emerging from the kitchen to hand him the glass of water.   
"The fuck you need me for?" Justin spat.   
"Language please, honey." Y/N sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. When Justin was younger, he had never used swear words. He had always been the sweet and innocent one. That was until he met Bruce Walker in third grade and everything changed.   
"We'll explain everything really soon, sweetheart but please let us help you first?" Y/N asked him. Justin sighed looking into her eyes and her kind expression. He hated to admit it but he missed her. Y/N was practically his mother for all intents and purposes. She had taken care of him more than his actual mother. Even though he wanted to, he couldn't stay mad at her.   
"Ok then. In that case, I'm going to head home for a little bit. I'll be back later with Tony." Clay told her as he left her alone with Justin. 

Y/N could see the hurt in his eyes. She sat beside him and wiped away his tears.   
"I know this is going to be difficult for you but I promise everything's going to be ok. Things are going to get alot better for you, sweetie." She reassured him.   
"I just really missed you. You were the one person I could go to when everything at home went to shit and when you left, I had no one." He told her turning away from her.   
"I know, honey but you knew why I did what I did. It was an opportunity I couldn't miss. My grades were excellent and when I graduated, J had the chance to move on to do something great. It broke my heart having to leave you, but I wasn't old enough to even consider adopting you. I loved you from the moment I saw you and decided to take care of you. Don't forget that. But this time, I'm back and I'm going to make everything right. I promise" She reassured him and wiped away his tears.

"Anyways, I'm going to run the shower for you, hun. As much as I love you, you stink and besides you'll feel alot better after you've cleaned up and changed into some clean clothes. Then we'll get you something to eat. I made your favourite." She told him with a weak smile guiding him up the stairs into the spare bedroom.  
"Lasagne?" Justin questioned.  
"That's right, sweetheart." She smiled. 

Y/N had already laid out a soft cotton grey t shirt and soft navy blue sweat pants. She sat Justin in the bed and turned on the shower making sure it was warm. 

She returned minutes later and offered him a reassuring smile.   
"The water is hot, sweetheart and I've set out your clothes and a towel. I'll let you get cleaned up and wait in here for you." She told him rolling up her sleeves.   
"Tha...thanks Y/N." Justin replied and gave her a small smile before getting up to go into the bathroom.

Y/N left the room to retrieve her hairdryer and answers a few emails and texts on her laptop before she heard Justin exit the bathroom. She headed back to his room and knocked on the door.   
"Can I come in, sweetheart?" She asked.   
"Yeah." Justin replied blankly.   
"There he is. I knew there was a handsome face behind all that dirt." She chuckled and went to press a kiss to his forehead.   
"Feeling better?" She asked him but the young boy simply shrugged. Y/N went to plug in the hairdryer and instructing him to sit beside her on the bed.   
"Sit down, honey. I'm just going to blow-dry your hair. I don't want you catching a cold." She told him gently brushing his hair away from his face seeing his expression relax a little. She had noticed how jumpy Justin had been as soon as he arrived. Sometimes the slightest noises made him flinch such as the kitchen door closing or the cupboard door closing. She found herself having to reassure him constantly that he was safe. It broke her heart not knowing what he had been through. 

"There we go, much better. You're already starting to look like yourself again hun." She smiled at him loving ruffling his hair.   
"Let's head downstairs and get you something to eat. I'm sure you must be hungry." She cooed leading him downstairs and into the kitchen.   
"Take a seat, honey." She instructed him as she set a plate, glass and cutlery in front of him and went to take out the lasagne and garlic bread in the oven and plate up a large portion for him.   
"Here you go, honey. Eat up and don't be afraid to ask for seconds." She reassured him pressing a kiss to his forehead. Justin dug in straight away downing the slice of lasagne in minutes. Y/N could see in his eyes how he hadn't had a meal in a long time so she cut up another slice of lasagne and put it on his plate as well as another piece of garlic bread and poured more juice into his glass and sat beside him watching him eat. 

Justin didn't say no to thirds but once he finished, he was content.   
"I always did like your lasagne." Justin commented with a weak smile. Y/N grabbed a napkin and leaned forward wiping the tomatoe sauce from the corner of his mouth.   
"You haven't changed bit, Justin Foley." Y/N chuckled. 

After dinner, Justin was lounging around on the couch, his eyes slowing becoming heavy as he struggled to keep them open. Y/N sat beside him and wrapped an arm around him as she used her other hand to gently caress his hair.   
"Y/N?" Justin asked.   
"Yes honey?" She replied pressing a kiss to his forehead.   
"Please don't leave me again. I don't have anyone else. I can't go back home. My mom's boyfriend is a dangerous drug dealer who beats me, my mom's a junkie who doesn't give a shit about me. Don't leave me." Justin begged looking up at her with glassy grey eyes.  
"I promise. I won't leave you. Never again." She reassured him and pressed a kiss to his forehead.   
"I loo'e yooou." Justin mumbled sleepily as his eyes closed.   
"I do too." She cooed and pressed a kiss to his forehead.


End file.
